The Evils of Time and Chance

I think it is pertinent to explain the concept of time and chance to put the three topics already discussed in perspective. It is vital to state that time is always associated with space, because whatever happens in time, happens within a space that can be perceived by individuals. This time was initially measured with the hour glass and most recently the clock.

Einstein in his theory of relativity postulates that the speed of light is finite and constant, and he further postulates that for two events to be simultaneous, it, “requires that distances appear compressed and time intervals appear lengthened for events associated with objects in motion relative to an inertial observer.” – Wikipedia on Time

The above postulation has been corroborated by the etymology of this blog “Time and Chance” as observed by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 9: 11 that:

“Again, I observed this on the earth: the race is not always won by the swiftest, the battle is not always won by the strongest; prosperity does not always belong to those who are the wisest, wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning, nor does success always come to those with the most knowledge--for time and chance may overcome them all.” – NET BIBLE

I have had course to review the above passage in the light of Einstein’s theory of relativity, my personal experiences and cause of history. I have noticed that as a kid, there was a  boy who was always first among a class of 200 pupils and they would always call his unbelievable grade before the assembly of pupils. We also had such a kid in my secondary school. Everyone including the teachers in the two schools mentioned saw these kids as special I aspired to have a brain as retentive as theirs, but I have no idea where the two are, I grew up believing their names would never fade and I keep listening to news to hear about these lads and I am yet to hear their names on the news or blogs etc as i expected. May be they are successful where they are, maybe some of them got confused as to which career path to follow. This confusion is understandable as their high IQ means they can grasp knowledge on any field and this can lead to choosing a wrong career, unlike some of us who knew from day one our limitations and the area of our competence. I was very incompetent in maths, but very rational and knew only the legal profession or the acts, drawing, acting was there for me.

But before, I lose sight of the passage above, let me briefly tell the story of Ian Fleming's 30 Commando unit, this unit is legendary for their James Bond style method of stealing enemy secrets. However, they had an operation that was a failure and to that I must avert my mind to.  “The men of 30AU were trained in all the key commando skills - hand-to-hand combat, booby traps and explosives. Many learned to parachute, handle small boats or dive as frogmen. They learned how to break and enter, how to pick locks and crack - or blow – safes”. Despite all these, the mission in Dieppe  to steal the German Engima machine was a failure. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21629270 (culled 30th September, 2013)

Let me summarized the disaster as written in BBC:

"When the landing craft became lodged on a submerged object just a few metres from the beach, he realised the game was up. Machine and cannon fire rained down from the cliffs as McGrath and the other commandos stripped off their kit, throwing aside their weapons. Those that could swim dived off the boat and swam for their lives through a sea foaming with bullets. McGrath - not a strong swimmer - says he was beginning to go under when the smokescreen cleared and he was spotted by a small Allied boat which dragged him aboard. It was the first of many close calls for McGrath. But almost 1,000 other men had no such luck. They died in the raid at Dieppe, which most military scholars regard as an unmitigated disaster. Fleming's commandos came back empty-handed. They hadn't even stepped ashore"

. Paul McGrath might not have been the strongest, the best shooter or the most talented in life saving maneuvers, in fact he was not even a good swimmer, but recognized an allied small boat and got into it, but time and chance happened to those who died, clearly putting into perspective the theory of Einstein that that for two events to be simultaneous, it, “requires that distances appear compressed and time intervals appear lengthened for events associated with objects in motion relative to an inertial observer.”

This blog is about being in the so-called wrong place at wrong time.

SHOW YOUR HAND 2

As a little kid, my father’s favourite quote was this:

Brutus:
There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

“Julius Caesar Act 4, scene 3, 218–224”

As a child growing up, I found it difficult to grasp the full concept of the wisdom being thrust on me. I have however, had time to regurgitate on those words in relation to my life and it occurred to me that I have had great ideas that I never followed through, I have seen opportunities and let them pass me by.

Sometimes, the word “opportunity” does not come with trays of gold, laces of treasures, it could as well come in the likeness of a disaster. My thoughts on this blog was to write on the Commissar in the Battle of Stalingrad, but having not found much historical confirmation of the character as played in the movie, “Enemy at the Gates” I have decided to write on the actual protagonist of the tale Vasily Zaytsev. My intention would be to show that the man who was later awarded the Honour of Hero of the Soviet Union was a mere farm boy, who used what he learnt from the farm in when a desperate situation came up in time and space and he took his chances. For, the avoidance of doubt, let me reiterate that Vasily grew up as a farm boy and at the age of 12 had killed a wolf using a double barrel and did it  with one shot. The gun used was over weight for his age, but he had learnt well from his grandfather. He became a member of the Soviet Navy and when the Germans put Stalingrad into ruins, he volunteered to go into the front line. I would dare say that this was a major decision for the young man considering that the front line was suicide and retreat was not allowed. However, this young man made history while he was cornered in a building with a comrade. They were still in training and they faced a sniper who took out his friend, and he took the sniper out.  Before 10^th of November 1942 he killed 32 Axis soldiers and between 10^th of November to 17^th of December of 1942 he got more lethal and killed 225 soldiers and officers, took out 11 officers. Between October 1942 to January 1943 he made an estimated kill of 400 soldiers and officers with a weapon whose range was 900 metres, yet some of his kills were from 1000 metres.

Vasily showed his hand when opportunity offered itself, in fact he invented his own tactic of “hide and sting” known as the “sixes” and still in use today. In fact, Colonel Donald Paquette of the US Sniper laid a wreath on his 2006 commemoration and the US Army News quoted him thus: "Vasily Zaytsev is a legend and every American sniper must memorize his tactics and methods. He is a legend amongst snipers. May he rest in peace." For daring to show his hand, and putting himself in harms way, he got the attention of a Professor in the German School (remember it was his grandfather who trained him), this Konig who they matched each other toe to toe for days. He killed the man and got his tag. He showed his characteristics of picking opportunities when he returned to civilian life, he studied in a textile university and became director of a textile company. His sniper rifle till today is in a museum and he was buried a hero at the age of 76. He got the following awards:

1.      Medal "For Courage"

2.      Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin"

3.      Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad"

4.      Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"

5.      Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"

6.      Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"

7.      Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"

8.      Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"

9.      Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

10.  Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

11.  Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

12.  Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

13.  Honorary Citizen of the Hero City of Volgograd

(From Wikipedia on Vasily Zaytsev)

Time and space is always yours to utilize, whether the situation looks negative or positive is subjective. It is left to you to turn the pendulum to your use or wait and sink. Vasily had the option of reminding himself that he was a trainee and find an escape route as his friend was dead and the city was in ruins, but he offered to change time and space, he remembered the shooting lessons from his grandfather in a farm and he squared up with dare situations, faced deadly snipers who studied in sniper schools, maybe the had better sniper rifles. He changed the course of the battle by targeting officers, causing fear in the enemy within a time space frame. TIME AND CHANCE, was at work here, when he was in a bad place, or a place of bad luck, he used the situation to turn himself into a hero and so can you.

My father would also say, “opportunity comes but once”. I add, opportunity comes everytime, so for everything you do, devote the totality of your endeavours and skill

Show your hand

SHOW YOUR HAND

The hand is the symbol of strength and during military combat the commander can use a singular hand motion to activate an attack or stop one. During the gladiatorial days, the Emperors  will either thumb up or down to decide the fate of the loser of a fight. It was not unusual in those days to see rulers or emperors bring their sons to the Colosseum to witness their exhibition of authority over human life, in some instances, they would call their son to thumb up or down to ascertain whether  he can rule or whether he can make life and death decisions. If the ruler or emperor has two sons, the one who can show his hand has the most likelihood of succession

Therefore, the ability to show your hand is emblematic of how to take an opporotunity which which might be life changing. Sometimes, the least significant task which receives the best shot, can be the chance of a lifetime. It is the threshold between obscurity to fame.

 

However, from the preface, it is apparent that this blog is not about people who have leadership thrust on them on a platter of gold, but people who showed their hand when it was required. I will use the perfect example of Darren Fletcher of Manchester United and a bit of my personal experiences.

DARREN FLETCHER

Was a player despised by the Manutd faithfuls at some point in his career.  Some fans wondered why Sir Alex Ferguson would bother to leave such a one in his first team. Fans complained that Fletcher’s crosses from the wings weren’t good enough, in fact, Roy Keane who he was supposed to succeed felt he was below par. David Moyes, wanted to relieve Fletcher from his Manutd woes and asked him to join him in Everton Football Club, but Ferguson asked Fletcher to be patient. In that year, 2007 Manutd had lost away to Roma 2:1 in that game Paul Scholes was given a red card and suspended for the next game. Fletcher was called to deputize for Scholes, the fans screamed, lost hope and felt Manutd was finished, but on that day, Fletcher became a phoenix risen from the ashes. He played like his life depended on it. The Manutd faithful saw a Fletcher they'd never imagined. He was the best player on the pitch and he scored 2 goals. Manutd stunned Roma by 7:1. From that day, Darren Fletcher increased the tempo of his game, he still did not break into the team till he got a chance against Arsenal and he gave a star performance, scoring twice in a 4:0 win against Arsenal Football Club that season he was lethal, daring more into the oppositions box, breaking play and allowing Michael Carrick spray more passes. In 2008, Fletcher was deemed to have been given an unjust red card against Arsenal which denied him the opportunity of playing the 2008 Champions League final, many commentators to this day believe that if he had played that game, Manutd would have defeated Barcelona in that finals to carry the UEFA Champions league.

MYSELF

Let me briefly talk about my Youth service experience in a top corporation in Nigeria. 11 Lawyers were sent to the Legal Department and because the department was fully staffed, the Youth Corps Lawyers were used mainly for dispatching mails or receiving mails and sorting it according to the lawyer in charge. In the course of these functions, I started learning the filing process of this big corporation, the loopholes in it and how to make it more efficient. One day, one of the in-house Counsel of the Corporation asked me to summarize a judgment, and of course that was not a hard thing to do. However, I found out that the decision was poorly written and the judge who wrote the judgment was below par, I put “quaere” as a sub-title and noted anomalies in the judgment. The in-house counsel lawyer started assigning more legal work to me and before I knew it I was directly working with the Deputy Manager Litigation.

During, my Chambers attachment before I became a lawyer, we attended one of the lawyer weekly conferences. Most law firms in Nigeria, have these weekly litigation meetings to discuss cases coming up the next week. The firm had a thorny case before them. The Managing Counsel of the Law Firm a Senior Advocate of Nigeria was in that meeting for the first time. He wanted to know the approach his lawyers would take, no one had an answer. He smiled as threw the question to the (us) law students. After a brief pause, I said, “ sir, betting and gaming is generally unenforceable” and he asked so you mean that there might be exceptions. I replied in the affirmative. He asked for my explanation and ran hot temperature and cold sweat overwhelmed me. I was not sure of the point I wanted to make but I just started talking till the sense scantly came to me, I observed that the Defendants in that suit had made profits from a certain lottery, the money raised was for a national project, I was blabbing about public policy. The Chairman trying to bail me out asked me to write a legal opinion and put on his desk on Monday. I used the weekend to do my research and the first thing I did on Monday was to put the opinion on his desk. Subsequently a man came to the office and asked after me and he said he needed a researcher and was told by the lady in charge of law students that I was the best. There are a few more stories of me, receiving assignments that were considered bigger than me and I gave it my all to show that if anyone could do it, why shouldn’t I

So, I always try to show my hand, no matter how small the opportunity is.

On the next installment, we will consider the story of a Russian officer who dared to give an opinion when his superiors were being executed for failure during the Russian 2^nd World War history….. I HOPE YOU ALL SHOW YOUR HAND THIS WEEK AND LET ME KNOW HOW MUCH SUCCESS YOU GOT

Iyken